Chapter 1 China Prepares for Brazil

The Chinese team had already entered the rhythm of preparing for the match against Brazil. It was perhaps the most severe match they faced, and it would decide whether they could continue in this World Cup. Then again, it seemed like every match for the Chinese team was a severe test…

At this moment, Zhou Yi received a call from his agent, Schulze.

"I'm sorry, Zhou Yi. I really shouldn't be bothering you at this time… But I definitely can't make a decision on this matter alone, and they're urging me very urgently, having already called me several times…"

"Alright, Tino, just tell me what it is directly?"

"Uh, it's like this… Four days ago, I received a call from Spain. They told me on the phone that they were from Real Madrid and wanted to ask if you had any thoughts about playing at the Bernabéu… At that time, you were in team training, preparing for the match against Spain, so I didn't call you. And you know, there are a lot of these probing calls from clubs. If I were to bother you every time, you might fire me… So I didn't tell you. I thought it was just a routine matter. But they've called four more times in the past few days, each time asking me your thoughts on playing for Real Madrid. I thought I should tell you so I can give them a reply…"

When Zhou Yi initially heard that Real Madrid was interested in him, he was a little surprised, but he didn't interrupt Schulze. He waited until he had said everything.

"Play for Real Madrid?" he asked Schulze.

"Yes. They've called several times, and they seem a bit anxious."

"What do you suggest, Tino?" Schulze was Zhou Yi's agent. Although Zhou Yi made many of the decisions in the end, he always asked his agent's opinion. Otherwise, what was the point of having an agent?

"I think this is a very good opportunity, Zhou Yi. If you want to take it to the next level, then you must go to a bigger club, to a wider stage. I'm not just talking about the competitive level, but also in terms of influence, in terms of commercial value… It's all the same. I never advised you to leave Dortmund before, because you said you still wanted to win championships in Dortmund. But now you've won all the championships you can win in Dortmund, and you've even helped them win some extra ones. So what reason is there to stop you from leaving?"

As an agent, Schulze certainly wanted his player to transfer away from Dortmund to a bigger club. This was not only because he could extract a commission from the transfer, but it also meant that Zhou Yi could have greater influence and commercial value. He could also help Zhou Yi earn more money, reflecting his value as an agent.

"In this world, besides Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona, are there any greater clubs? No. But you definitely won't go to Bayern Munich. That leaves Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona seems quite suitable for you, and Real Madrid is not bad either. It just depends on your personal choice."

Schulze left the choice to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment.

He also felt that it was time to leave Dortmund. He could have left last summer. He had helped Dortmund win the Champions League, which was an excellent opportunity. But the successive departures of Götze and Lewandowski made it impossible for him to abandon his team in its hour of need. That would have been too ruthless. So he chose to stay.

At that time, he had an idea in his mind. No matter what the final result of this season was, he would leave Dortmund to pursue greater challenges.

He didn't expect that this season he would also help Dortmund win the league and Champions League double, and there was no more suitable time to say goodbye than this.

If he left at this time, he wouldn't owe Dortmund anything, and no one could accuse him of being ruthless.

The only question was where to go.

As Schulze said, after he helped Dortmund win two Champions League titles and four league titles, there were only a handful of teams in the world that could make him leave his familiar environment.

The only teams that were truly more prestigious than Dortmund were Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.

The overall decline of Serie A meant that all Serie A teams were out.

In the Premier League, Manchester United during the Ferguson era would have been a good choice, but the current Manchester United was no longer the same. Wenger's Arsenal could also have been a possibility, but now Arsenal was in turmoil, and the criticism of Wenger was growing louder. It was hard to say what would happen after he went there.

Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City were all about the same. If he wanted to take it to the next level, why would he go to those teams?

So, after all the calculations, only the Spanish super duo were suitable.

Barcelona's tactical style might be more in line with his playing style, and they had been looking for Xavi's successor.

Real Madrid was renowned, the best team of the twentieth century, and they urgently needed to break Barcelona's suppression, so they were eager for talent.

Joining either Real Madrid or Barcelona would be good.

But Zhou Yi didn't want to make a decision just yet. There was still a long time before the transfer window closed, and who knew what might happen in between?

Just as Zhou Yi was pondering, Schulze suddenly said, "Oh, I almost forgot. Real Madrid told me that if you agree to join, they will directly activate the release clause in your contract with Dortmund."

"Release clause? How much is my release clause again?" Zhou Yi himself was a little confused.

"Ninety million! Euros!" Schulze said loudly.

"Wow, a big move." Zhou Yi啧啧 sighed. Ninety million euros, to just take it out and spend, there probably aren't many clubs in the world that can do that. "It's strange, it's not like Real Madrid hasn't been interested in me before, but they've never been this interested…"

"I think a very important reason is probably because you led Dortmund to defeat them in the Champions League final," Schulze said with a smile.

"Huh? I beat them, so they're more interested in me… Does Real Madrid have Stockholm Syndrome?"

"Their dream of winning their tenth Champions League title was shattered, and you were the one who personally extinguished their dream. If they can't defeat you on the field, then of course they'll bring you under their banner. This is quite in line with Florentino's style of doing things. And he insists that Real Madrid's big signings must be the best players in the world, so if Real Madrid is really willing to砸 ninety million euros for you, then that means you are a top world-class player."

After listening to Schulze's explanation, Zhou Yi thought it made sense. It was not uncommon in professional football to buy the person who caused you headaches and bring him over to your side.

It wasn't the first time he had defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League. The last time Dortmund won the Champions League, two seasons ago, they also defeated Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

Real Madrid had fallen twice in a row in the Champions League to the same opponent, which did force them to dig into Dortmund's wall.

Zhou Yi wasn't opposed to going to Real Madrid, but he wouldn't make a decision easily. So he said to Schulze, "Tell Real Madrid that I am not considering any transfers right now. I will only focus on the national team's matches. We'll discuss the transfer issue after the Chinese team's World Cup is over. If they're still this interested at that time, then we can talk."

"Okay, I'll do as you say. Also, congratulations on reaching the round of sixteen of the World Cup, Zhou Yi. Actually, I think if we had signed a release clause of one hundred million euros with Dortmund back then, Real Madrid might have paid that amount… At that time, you would be a one hundred million euro man, the first player in the world with a value of over one hundred million euros,啧啧…" Schulze imagined such a future and couldn't help but click his tongue. When Bale transferred to Real Madrid, it was also claimed to be a one hundred million euro transfer fee, but it didn't actually reach one hundred million, it seemed to be ninety-six million euros.

"Don't think so much, it's not even close yet," Zhou Yi boldly dispelled Schulze's fantasies.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi thought about Real Madrid's interest in him. If he could really play for Real Madrid, it would be great. Whether it was the club's honor or the team's reputation, its influence in the world was far beyond what Dortmund could compare to. As a Chinese person, he probably had a deeper understanding of Real Madrid's influence.

When Real Madrid came to China in 2003, the sensation it caused could only be described as "everyone out on the streets."

There were many European teams that came to China to play commercial matches, and there were many prestigious teams, but only Real Madrid reached the scale of 2003.

Even after just experiencing a China tour with Dortmund, Zhou Yi felt that Dortmund's China tour at that time couldn't compare to Real Madrid's influence and scale.

So Zhou Yi was very clear about what kind of improvement he could get by playing for Real Madrid.

But he just thought about it and put it out of his mind.

As he said, the World Cup was the top priority at the moment, and personal prospects were far less important than collective honor.

So Zhou Yi didn't say anything about it, and no one knew that Real Madrid was frantically pursuing him.

※※※

On the other side, Schulze replied to Real Madrid, expressing Zhou Yi's gratitude for their interest, but for him, the most important thing was the World Cup, so he would not consider transfer matters with any team until the end of the World Cup.

Real Madrid certainly understood Zhou Yi's approach, but they also noticed the key words in Schulze's words.

"Is he not considering talking to any team?"

"Yes, he won't talk to any team, not just you," Schulze knew what Real Madrid was focusing on.

"Is this… Zhou Yi's original words?"

"Of course."

"Hoo… Okay, thank you, Mr. Schulze. I hope we can establish good communication and keep in touch often…"

"Of course, no problem, it's my duty," Schulze agreed readily. As an excellent agent, how could he not do this?

After hanging up the phone, Schulze couldn't help but start to imagine Zhou Yi's transfer to Real Madrid.

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the best team of the twentieth century, Real Madrid.

Joining such a team with a transfer fee of ninety million euros almost meant being the core player of the team, and the status was self-evident.

At that time, Zhou Yi's personal image would also be linked to Real Madrid, a prestigious club, and would be greatly enhanced.

Commercial value would naturally increase steadily.

However, Real Madrid's image rights management was a bit troublesome… They wanted to seize 50%.

If that was the case, should there be some compensation in salary?

Zhou Yi's current annual salary at Dortmund was eight million euros. If he went to Real Madrid, his annual salary certainly couldn't be lower than that, it could only be higher.

How much higher?

The total pre-tax annual salary of the twenty-three players in Real Madrid's first team last season was 184 million euros. The team's salary level was roughly divided into five levels. The lowest level was represented by young talents like José and Nacho, because of their shallow qualifications and unstable positions in the team, so they only had a tax-after annual salary of 1.2 million.

The fourth level was players like Khedira and Diego López, who played an important role in the lineup but had low salaries. Their tax-after salaries were only 2 million euros.

The third level was key players like Pepe, Di María, and Modrić, between 3.5 million and 5 million euros.

The second level players included star players like Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Ramos, and Benzema, whose tax-after annual salaries were approximately between 5.5 million and 6 million euros.

The first level was significantly higher than the second level, with a tax-after annual salary of over 10 million. Only two players in the team had this treatment. One was Bale, who joined the team last season, with a pre-tax annual salary of 22.8 million euros, and approximately 11 million after tax. The other was Real Madrid's star player, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, with a pre-tax annual salary of 35.3 million euros and a tax-after annual salary of as high as 17 million euros.

This was not a secret. This was the annual salary data of Real Madrid's first team publicly disclosed by the media. According to this data, Schulze began to position Zhou Yi, so that he could ask for a price when negotiating a contract with Real Madrid in the future.

In his mind, Zhou Yi should definitely be a player of the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale. The tax-after annual salary must be over 10 million.

This level of income could be described as a leap for Zhou Yi.

You should know that although Zhou Yi currently earns an annual salary of 8 million at Dortmund, that is pre-tax, and Germany's tax rate is as high as 45%, so that 8 million is basically cut in half, which is the money Zhou Yi gets in his hands.

And the annual salary data of Real Madrid just now were all after tax.

Schulze hoped to fight for a tax-after annual salary of over 11 million euros for Zhou Yi.

He believed that Zhou Yi's personal ability and importance to the team were better than Bale's, so Zhou Yi deserved to earn this much money.

Moreover, he had an advantage, that was that Real Madrid was now eagerly seeking him, not him actively knocking on their door to promote Zhou Yi, and they had called four times in four days.

Since Real Madrid was so anxious and so sincere, Schulze could naturally raise the price on the spot.

The thought of Zhou Yi's annual salary number made Schulze excited, so excited that he couldn't sleep.